Mk 12:38-44

Mark 12:38 He said to them as he taught, "Beware of the scribes, who like to walk about in long robes, receiving greetings in the public squares,

Mark 12:39 have the first seats in the synagogues and the first places at banquets.

Mark 12:40 They devour the houses of widows, and they boast of making long prayers; they shall receive a more grievous condemnation."

Mark 12:41 And sitting opposite the treasury, he observed how the crowd threw coins into the treasury. And many rich people were throwing many.

Mark 12:42 But when a poor widow came there, she threw in two pennies, that is, a quintrin.

Mark 12:43 Then calling the disciples to himself, he said to them, "Truly I tell you, this widow has thrown more into the treasury than all the others.

Mark 12:44 For they all gave of their surplus, but she in her poverty put in all that she had, all that she had to live on."

V. 38 opens by reminding the reader that one is in a teaching context, while noting the climate of tension that animates it. A teaching that takes its cue from the contradictory way of life of the scribes, who love to strut in public and present themselves as respectable people, but in reality are people lacking in moral scruples, who disguise themselves behind a public religious life, thus manifesting all the damage that devotion not lived in the spirit and sincerity of heart can create. Such behaviour is characterised by a substantial amorality, in which the ego lives and feeds at the expense of the other, especially towards those who cannot defend themselves or do not have the means to do so. This makes it all the more deplorable and condemnable.

V. 40 tells how the scribes were devourers of widows' houses. A thought that serves Mark to connect with the other story (vv. 41-44), where the protagonist is a widow, who, despite her precarious condition of life, will be able to impart a lesson of total self-denial in favour of the Temple, ultimately of God himself.

Two contrasting behaviours, narratively strung one behind the other, so that the contrast between predator and prey and between rich and poor stands out better. A comparison from which it emerges how the offerings made by the wealthy donors do not affect their patrimony and in any case do not affect their quality of life; on the contrary, they derive a public benefit from it, because everyone learns of their 'generous' offering. In contrast, the widow gives all she has and retains nothing for herself.

V. 41 opens the account of the widow by presenting Jesus who, sitting in front of the Temple treasury, was watching those who brought their offerings. Jesus' sitting in this context takes on a double meaning: on the one hand, he is continuing his teaching. Sitting, in fact, is the characteristic posture of the teacher imparting his teaching; on the other hand, the position of Jesus, sitting in front of the Temple treasury, as he attentively observes those who bring their offerings, suggests the posture of the judge who stands before the accused or the plaintiff and assesses their position, and then passes his sentence, set out in vv. 43-44, but which at the same time is also teaching his disciples.

V. 42 presents the main character, a widow, whom Mark describes as poor. A qualifying adjective that hints at the social condition of this widow, one of the social categories most at risk in that society, and most exposed to oppression and abuse. Her offering, just two pennies, testifies to her state of destitution. This offering was equivalent to a few cents, but it represented all his possessions, to which his existence was tied and could be the difference between living and dying. And it is at this point that the judge and teacher summons his disciples around him (v. 43) to impart his teaching and at the same time pass his sentence: 'this widow has thrown more into the treasury than all the others'. A judgement that pits two sides against each other: this poor widow, on the winning side, against all the other bidders, losers.

A reversal of values and perspective, the reason for which is given: "all gave of their surplus, she instead, in her poverty, put in all she had, all she had to live on". The evaluation, therefore, is not placed on the venal value of the offering, but on how much this has to do with the sincerity of one's heart and life. What assigns value or disvalue to things is what resides in man's heart and not in things. The sentence overturns the parameters of man's evaluation, showing all the distance that separates them from those of God, to the point of reaching the paradox: the nothing that this poor woman has given far outweighs the conspicuous offerings of the rich.And the reason for this paradox lies in the fact that "she put everything she had into her poverty, everything she had to live on". This widow drew everything she had 'in her poverty', or rather 'from her poverty' (ek tēs histerēseōs autēs). In other words, her state of deprivation did not prevent her from scraping the bottom of her poverty, collecting all she had, two coins, which define, even before the value of the offering, the depth of her state of penury. This is not, therefore, just any kind of destitution, as there was so much of it at the time, but a serious state of poverty, which called her very survival into question. Ultimately, this severely destitute widow, between herself and God, put God before her own life. 

 Argentino Quintavalle, author of the books 

- Revelation - exegetical commentary 

- The Apostle Paul and the Judaizers - Law or Gospel?

Jesus Christ true God and true Man in the Trinitarian mystery

The prophetic discourse of Jesus (Matthew 24-25)

All generations will call me blessed

 Catholics and Protestants compared - In defence of the faith

(Buyable on Amazon)